Love is the Key
by itskaylie
Summary: They were best friends, and they fought over everything. If she changed her hair color, he told her he hated it. If she had a girlie moment, he made fun of her. But when she needed him the most, could he be there? And who was this he she spoke of anyways?
1. Love Is The Key

_**Always hear you singing  
I can't stand that song  
You like my hair brunette  
But I like it blonde  
You lie in the sunshine  
But it makes me sweat  
You save all your money  
While, I get into debt**_

**--------- **

They were complete opposites. Whenever they spent time together, they were arguing about something.

Mitchie sat there, watching him with her. The smile on his face was the brightest smile she had seen in a while. He was lying on the grass, her head in his lap and he was playing with her hair. That was what Mitchie wanted.

"_Mitchie! What are you doing?!" he yelled_

"_I'm dying my hair. Duh." She looked at him, rolling her eyes._

"_Are you crazy? What possessed you to do this to yourself?" he continued yelling, waving his hands about._

"_It's time for a change. Plus, I like the way I look with my hair like this."_

"_But it's not you. I do not like this Mitchie. Not one bit."_

"_It's my hair sweetheart. I like it blonde." She ruffled his hair, and walked out of the bathroom into the kitchen, grabbing a root beer._

"_But I don't. Doesn't my opinion matter to you? Do you want to be known as a dumb blonde?" he shot her a look._

"_I honestly don't care what people think about me. I like it."_

"_But you're not a blonde! You're a brunette! What do you not get?" he sighed, about to give up._

"_I get everything, it's you I'm worried about." She smiled, walking back into the bathroom to wash out the hair dye._

She fingered her long, blonde curl. She still preferred the blonde to the brunette, and he still disagreed. It was one of their daily arguments. Of course, just to get on her nerves he constantly called her a dumb blonde. It was quite funny actually, seeing as she was smarter than him at times.

She frowned, looking at the happy couple lying out in the sun. Standing up, she sighed walking back into the house.

"_Come on Mitchie! It'll be nice and relaxing. Please, please, please come outside with me. I just want to watch the clouds." He stuck out his bottom lip, attempting to make a puppy dog face._

"_If you were Frankie that would work, but you aren't. So, it didn't" she smiled, looking up at him over her book._

"_I won't ask you for anything ever again, just come outside with me." He begged._

"_I don't see why going outside is so important. Seriously, I just want to finish this book. Some of us still attend actually school and have an essay due in four days."_

"_Oh please Mitchie, we all know the only reason you don't want to go outside is cause it'll make you sweat. Face it; you're a typical girl who's afraid to sweat." He was smirking now, and it annoyed her._

"_Honestly? You're saying that to me? Your workout buddy?" She laughed, rolling her eyes._

_"Fine Mitchie, but next time I ask you, you better get your booty outside with me." He laughed, walking out the door going back outside._

Okay, so maybe she had lied a little bit. She didn't want to go outside because she didn't want sweat. She didn't mind sweating when she worked out because that meant she was burning calories, but just lying there with him, that didn't burn any.

"Hey Mitchie, we're going out for lunch. You want to come with us?" He asked her, flashing that signature smile.

"No, it's okay. You two lovebirds go without me." She smiled back.

"Okay, have fun Mitchie." He smiled, walking out with _her._

"_Mitchie? What's wrong?" he asked coming up behind her._

"_We lost everything." She cried out._

"_What are you talking about Mitchie?" he asked, sitting beside her._

"_My parents. They lost everything in Las Vegas, and now they're gone! Their car crashed while they were driving back. Not only am I an orphan, but I have no money." She broke down, leaning on his shoulder._

"_It's okay Mitchie, I'm her for you. You can live with us, we'll be your new family." He smiled, wrapping his arms around her._

"_I can't let you do that; I'd just be an intrusion. You guys aren't exactly rich, and you already have a big enough family."_

"_Mitchie, shut up. Honestly, we have a lot of money saved. We have enough, trust me. We love you."_

_Those three words, even though they weren't directly from him, they were close enough._

"_I love you too." She smiled, slowly drifting off into a deep slumber in his arms, forgetting about_

**A/N : **I know I have two other stories that really need updating and I will update them ASAP. I actually have most of the next few chapters for my other Camp Rock story ready. I will post them when I get home. Anyways, if you read please review!

:D


	2. Nice Guys Finish Last

Summer in Wyckoff, New Jersey. It was a lovely day outside, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. Everything looked the same as it always did, except for the big U-Haul truck in front of a nice little house. A rather large man jumped out, picking his wedgie at the same time, not a lovely sight at all.  
A minivan pulled up and out hopped a little girl and her older brother.

Mitchie-Anne was first, she was nine years old. She had brown hair that went just past her shoulders and sparkling blue eyes. Her cheeks were naturally bright red, and she was naturally tanned. Her brother Justin followed behind her, he was fourteen and very protective of his sister. His hair was also brown and spiked up, but instead of having blue eyes like his sister he had brown ones. He was just as tan, but didn't have the red cheeks like his sister either. Their mother came after them, she was dressed nicely and had blue eyes like Mitchie-Anne and red cheeks. She had blonde hair that was obviously dyed as you could see her roots coming in. Another thing that was obvious about her was that she was only with her husband because he was rich. Shallow.

"Justin! Come help me carry these boxes inside!" Their father, Mark yelled.

Justinn immediately ran over to his father and started carrying the boxes in, smiling at their new neighbours who were outside.

"Come on Mitchie, let's go meet our neighbours and let the boys carry in the boxes." Her mom grabbed Mitchie's hand and dragged her next door.

Next door stood three boys along with their two parents.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jane and this is my daughter Mitchie." She smiled, shaking their hands.

"Welcome to the neighbourhood! I'm Denise Jonas, this is my husband Paul." Denise said, pointing at her husband. "And these are our sons, Jason, Shane and Nate"

The boys smiled at Jane and Mitchie, but Mitchie suddenly found the sidewalk very interesting.

"Mitchie, why don't you hang out over here with the Jonas family while your father and I unpack everything? Would you like that?" she looked down at her daughter.

"We would love to get to know you Mitchie." Denise smiled at her.

Mitchie nodded and said goodbye to her mother and then followed the family into their backyard. She and the boys hung out, throwing a ball back and forth and then moving onto freeze tag. They had learned a lot about each other and soon had become best friends. She learned that Shane was a year older than her, and that Jason was twelve. Nate was the youngest at seven, but he was already a very serious kid. She also found out that Mrs. Jonas was a month pregnant, and that they were already trying to pick out names.

They continued to play tag all afternoon, pausing to have snacks once in a while.

"Gotcha!" Nate yelled, tagging Mitchie a little too hard causing her to fall over on the sidewalk.

Mitchie started to cry, looking at her knee that was slightly bleeding.

"Nate! Look what you did!" Shane yelled, rushing to Mitchie's side. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah, it just hurts a bit." She smiled.

"Okay, that's good. Want to play again?"

She nodded and they continued to play tag, forgetting about everything that had happened. She stayed for supper, helping clean up afterwards and then going back outside with the boys to finish their game of tag. After Shane declared that he was the 'tag master' Mitchie's parents called over the fence, but Mitchie ignored it and continued to play with the boys.

After ten minutes her dad came over, told her it was time to go and picked her up. He walked her into her house and that's when the nightmare began.

Nate heard noises, and even though he knew he wasn't supposed to go outside past eight at night he did. He went out front, and walked by Mitchie's house. What he saw shocked him, it was something he never thought would happen to his friend. He thought that Mitchie's family was nice, but nice people didn't hit their kids, right?


	3. Right Here

A/N : Before I actually start this chapter I'm going to explain how I'm going to be writing the next few chapters. The last chapter took place back in 2000, and the one you're about to read is taking place in 2001. Each chapter, up until chapter 9-ish will be focused on one year and around a certain theme, boy or song. I have no clue how this will work out, so I'm going to be crossing my fingers that it doesn't suck.

Chapter 3 – Right Here

It had been exactly one year since Mitchie had moved in beside the Grey family, and the kids were still the best of friends. She had formed a different relationship with each member of the family, including Frankie who was the newest addition to the Grey family.

Jason was the oldest son, he was currently thirteen. He and Mitchie weren't really friends; she wasn't exactly close with him. He always acted like the annoying older brother whenever she was with the boys. They had never spent time alone, and she didn't mind that. She didn't really like him, she thought of him as annoying and someone she would like to avoid. He bugged her about being young and dorky, and she bugged him about being old and dorky.

Shane was the second oldest, he was a year older than Mitchie at the age of eleven. They were best friends, and had become particularly close within the past few months. Shane was used to always having the attention, he liked it, but since Frankie was born the family had been ignoring him and paying more attention to Frankie. Even Jason and Nate got attention from the parents, he was sure they hated him. They were both entering their awkward phases and had recently decided that kissing looked like fun. After trying it out, Mitchie decided it was gross and that she never wanted to kiss another guy in her life.

Nate was almost the youngest at the age of eight, two years younger than Mitchie. He still hadn't told her about what he saw that night, and he didn't know if he ever would. Maybe it was a onetime thing, and it hadn't happened since. He hoped so. He might've been younger than her, but he considered her to be one of his best friends. He and Shane constantly fought for her attention, and Nate usually got it. He was younger, and she found him cute and often pinched his cheeks.

Frankie was turning one in a few months, and Mitchie absolutely loved him. She had always wanted a younger sibling, and she treated Frankie as if he was hers. She often held him and loved to play with him. She couldn't wait for him to grow up though, so she could actually understand him.

Jason's POV

The date today was July 20th, it was a Monday. Mitchie was staying over at our house for a week while her parents and brother went away, and things had been fine between us. We had all spent the night in the basement, playing games and watching movies. Everyone had passed out a while ago, around nine thirty. It was currently ten thirty and Mitchie was the only other person still awake. Well, at least I thought she was.  
It was nice and peaceful, watching a movie with the thunderstorm in the background. Or at least it was until the power went out.

"Jason?" I heard a little voice call out.

"Yeah?" I replied, sort of hoping it was Nate.

"I'm sort of scared of the dark. And storms." Crap, it was Mitchie. I had no clue what to do. I mean, there's a ten year old girl sitting on the floor scared, and I knew the right thing to do was to help her. But, was it the same if you pretty much hated the girl?

"Okay? What am I supposed to do about that?" I asked, coming out harsher than I intended.

"Jason, I am freaking out down here. Now is not the time for you to be an ass." She said, shocking me. Since when did she use words like ass? She was only ten.

I quickly apologized and told her she could come up and join me on the couch. She seemed hesitant at first, but found her way next to me.

It was pretty awkward; I mean we both hated each other. I had no clue what to do. She didn't seem scared, but then again I couldn't see her.

After a few minutes of just sitting there, she moved closer to me and that was when I realized she was shaking. She really was freaking out.

"Mitchie, why are you shaking so much? It's just a storm." I smiled, knowing she couldn't see me.

"I just really hate storms okay? And you aren't helping. Normally when there's a storm my brother holds me in his arms and sings till I fall asleep. He's not exactly the best singer ever, but it helps." I could tell that she was pretty close to crying, and I didn't want that.

I sighed, realizing I was going to have to play the role of her big brother tonight.

I opened my arms, and she soon relaxed into them resting her head on my left shoulder. I started humming random songs, and she started calming down. After ten minutes or so she was finally asleep. My eyes were starting to close, and I knew that I would fall asleep shortly. And I did, but not before I saw the lights flicker on, and my parents walk in and take a picture of all of us.

I would get them back for that tomorrow, but for now I was off to dreamland.

A/N : Kay, so I don't know if it sucked, or if it was good. I do know it was short, but I like short. If you want them longer just tell me and I can make it happen. Just keep in mind that adds will most likely be further apart if the chapters are longer.


	4. We Are Broken

**A/N : I'm just going to go hide now, sorry guys. I fail, I really really do. My last update was MONTHS ago, and high school is kicking my ass. I've noticed that this story has gotten some more views over the past month, which is absolutely amazing. I suppose it's time to actually get this thing going again, eh? Hopefully things are starting to come together for everyone & hopefully this doesn't suck.**

**Cause we are broken**

**What must we do to restore**

**Our innocence**

**And all the promise we adored **

**Give us life again cause we just wanna be whole**

Nate's Point Of View 

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!" I sang out along with all my brothers and family members. We were currently gathered in our back yard celebrating Shane and Mitchie's birthdays. It was August 17th, the day that my family had decided to have the party on. Mitchie was turning 11 and Shane was turning 12.

They both leaned over the cake and blew out the candles, and Shane being the smart kid he is decided that as soon as they were done he was going to push Mitchie's face into the cake.

"Shane! I will kill you!" she yelled while chasing him around the yard.

They were the best of friends. Mom and Dad always talked about how they would end up together eventually, apparently they were the perfect couple. What does that even mean? Adults are so weird.

After the two losers finished chasing each other around the yard, we all settled down and decided it was time to open presents.

It started off with Mitchie getting hers. She got lots of girl stuff like clothes and jewelry. Who really cares about that stuff? Then she got a furby, something she had been looking everywhere for. Finally, she got a really big present from Kevin. She opened it up and found out it was guitar. The look on her face was amazing, she was really shocked.

Her parents on the other hand weren't as happy.

"Kevin, why in the world would you get her a guitar?" her mom questioned.

"Well, she's been playing around with mine a lot lately and she's actually pretty good at it. She likes music, so why not?" he replied.

"Is this true Mitchie?" I really didn't like her mom, she was mean.

"Yeah, it is. I'd love to be a singer when I grow up." Wow, Mitchie had a big smile. I mean, I knew it was big but wow.

"Don't be stupid Mitchie, that's never going to happen. At least try to be reasonable." See what I mean? Mean old lady.

Mitchie's brother finally spoke up, "Mom, if Mitchie wants to be a singer when she grows up let her. It's her life, and if she's good at something why shouldn't she continue with it? I'd rather watch my baby sister up on a stage having the time of her life than watch her sit in a desk everyday."

"Okay! How about we open Shane's presents now?" My mom cut in, she's a smart lady.

Shane got clothes, board games, a guitar and a few other little things.

At least our parents were supportive of his love for music.

It was decided that Mitchie would spend the night at our house after watching Justin storm out after fighting with their parents. He was fifteen now and had a learners permit, so he could drive but had to have an adult in the car. He didn't have an adult in the car when he left.

"Mitchie? How come your mom is so mean to you?" What? It's not my fault for asking. I'm only and I was curious.

She sighed, "I don't know Nate. They always say that I was a mistake, I wasn't supposed to be born. They always say how they just wanted one child, and that's Justin. It's always going to be like this, but at least I have Justin to help me. And of course I have you guys."

"We love you Mitchie" Jason smiled. They had become really close in the past year. He helped her with school, bullies and her parents. I didn't like it, not one bit. I'm not jealous or anything, I just think he's not right for her. She needs someone younger, cooler and nicer.

"Thanks Jason." and now Mitchie was blushing. What is going on in this house? I am so confused, I now feel like nobody tells me anything.

We sat there just watching movies for the rest of the night, most of them were Disney movies. We had Mitchie to thank for that.

Finally around eleven we were all asleep, but I was woken up to the sound of my Mom and Dad waking up Mitchie.

"Mitchie sweetie? It's about your brother. There's been an accident."

**End notes : I know it's super short, it's rushed and not the best. i wrote it in fifteen minutes just so I could get something out. I'm being yelled at to go study for my finals, but I get the next four days off so hopefully I'll get some writing done. Thanks to anyone who's still reading this and stuff. You guys are the best. **


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